Documentation/ Purchase orders and projects/ Creating an order
Creating a purchase order
An order is put together in three moves: choose the supplier, tick the products and put the quantities in. Descriptions and codes are not typed: they come out of what you have bought from that supplier before.
Management › Purchase Orders › new order
On this page
The order's details
| Field | What it is | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier | Who it is being asked of. | Yes |
| Expected delivery date | When you expect it. | No |
| Notes | Internal remarks or instructions for the supplier. | No |
| Number and status | Set by the application. | — |
The supplier is the first thing to choose, and not for the sake of tidiness: until one is chosen, the product list is empty, because it depends on them.
Adding products
Below the order's details is the block of that supplier's products, with its instruction: select the products to add to the order and press Add.
- Find the product by name in the block's search box.
- Tick the ones you want. Several can be ticked at once.
- Press Add selected.
- Adjust the quantities on the lines created.
The process can be repeated as often as needed: each batch of products is added to whatever lines are already there.
Where the products come from
The list holds the products you have already bought from that supplier. If the supplier is new or has no documents processed, the application says so: this supplier has no products in their history.
It is a design decision with a clear consequence: you cannot order an item you have never bought from that supplier from this screen. For something new, the way is to say so in the order's notes.
What you get in return is that the descriptions and codes are exactly the ones that supplier uses, which avoids misunderstandings at the other end.
The order's lines
| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Code | The product's reference. |
| Description | The item's name. |
| Unit | The unit of measure. |
| Quantity | The only thing to fill in. It has to be greater than zero. |
Each line has its own button to take it off the order. The order carries no prices: it is a request for goods, not a valuation.
The notes
The notes field takes internal remarks or instructions for the supplier. Its contents travel in the message sent, by email and by WhatsApp alike.
It is where the things that do not fit on a line go: delivery times, which loading bay, a new item that is not in the history, or a job reference.
Save, or save and send
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Save draft | Saves the order without sending it. It stays a draft and can go on being edited. |
| Save and send | Saves and goes straight to sending it to the supplier. |
Saving as a draft is the sensible course when the order is put together over the day and sent at closing. It confirms that the order was created.
What the application checks
| Message | What is missing |
|---|---|
| Select a supplier | The order has no recipient. |
| Add at least one product to the order | There are no lines. |
| The quantity must be greater than zero | Some line has an empty quantity or zero. |
| The order has no lines; add at least one product before sending | An empty order was about to be sent. |
Things that come up
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The products block is empty | No supplier has been chosen yet. | Choose one. The list depends on it. |
| It is still empty with a supplier chosen | That supplier has no buying history. | Set out what you want in the notes, or process one of their documents first. |
| An item you do buy is missing | It was bought from another supplier, or the product has been retired. | Check it on the product master. |
| It will not save | The supplier is missing, there are no lines, or a quantity is zero. | Check all three; the message says which one is at fault. |
| Products have been added twice | Add was pressed twice on the same selection. | Remove the spare lines with their own button. |